Intel jumps on 802.11n bandwagon with Centrino

Intel has announced that they will be including preratification 802.11n …

On Tuesday, at the IEEE Globecom 2006 Expo in San Francisco, Intel announced that the company is planning to put a pre-standard version of 802.11n wireless networking into the next release of the Centrino chipset. Alan Crouch, director and general manager at Intel's Communications Technology Lab, told the crowd of engineers and technologists that the new WiFi technology was slated for inclusion in the Centrino chips as early as next year.

802.11n is the latest revision of the wireless networking standard, which has already gone through two major standards: 802.11b at 11 megabits per second, and 802.11g at 54 Mbps. However, 802.11n has not yet completed the standardization process, and will not receive its final blessing from the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee until the first half of 2008.

Other companies have jumped the gun on producing 802.11n cards and adapters before. Dell started offering the high-speed wireless networking option back in June, along with Linksys, Belkin, and D-Link. Sales of 802.11n devices were strong in the second quarter of this year, prompting many other companies to jump on the bandwagon, despite warnings from some industry analyst groups that the standard could change before it became ratified, potentially rendering these devices incompatible. For home users, this is not necessarily a big concern, but businesses were advised to wait before jumping on the high-speed bandwagon. At Ars, we advised caution to anyone purchasing devices based on the draft standard.

In the absence of a ratified standard, the WiFi Alliance was formed by industry heavyweights like Intel, Motorola, Cisco, and Texas Instruments to help work with the IEEE draft board to ensure that manufacturers submit their products to testing labs in order to ensure interoperability. The decision by Intel to include 802.11n in the next Centrino chipset may force the issue on the 802.11n standard . So many laptops use the Centrino chipset that it will likely become a de-facto standard long before the official ratification is completed.

Intel says that the first generation of its 802.11n chipsets will be capable of speeds up to 480Mbps, with a theoretical limit of 600Mbps. In addition, it will be operable at ranges up to 50 percent greater than 802.11g.